The Consequence of Laughter
by Ms Arcielee
Summary: There's never a happy ending in the Rowling Universe. This is pre-Harry Potter, Hogwarts in the early 70s.


**Author's Note:** Ya'll know what is Rowling's and what is mine. I am just borrowing them for the fanfic. Enjoy. Hopefully.

**Chapter I**

**D**ark clouds billowed from the smokestack, engulfing the glossy, red engine of the Hogwarts Express. Her feet were frozen to the magical platform, nine and three quarters. Her Muggle aunt's expression was disdain and boredom. 'Off with you now, you little minx,' she nudge her American niece. 'Think you can manage a solid year?'

Jane ignored her, clutched her tote to her side, and went to board the train. Her acceptance letter spelled out specifically that a Hogwarts prefect would be waiting to assist, but another minute with her aunt was another minute too many. Young wizards milled throughout the compartments, reuniting and settling in for the ride. She kept to the side, avoiding quizzical looks and looked for an empty room to slip into. Jane sunk into the other stuffed seat and leaned back to get a view throughout the window, praying her room would stay vacant for now.

It was weird that only four days ago she was still on American soil, getting a half hearted hug from her mother who seemed eager to ship off her responsibility to her older sister across the pond. The past three days were long and painful, dealing with her aunt's obsessive compulsive behavior and four cats, an onslaught against her allergies. Her aunt's snide remark over remaining at Hogwarts was the slight stab of the four day suspension she received at American Magus, the cousin school for the cousin country. Mind her, she spent her first four years learning how to craft her magic, but that was entirely overlooked because of her spotted record.

She dug into the tote and pulled out a Muggle novel from her pre-Magus days, her renewed interest due to the constantly changing environment over the past week. She was a sucker for the science fiction genre, though she enjoyed the fantasy and their interpretation of wizards and witches. The latest author rediscovered was Bradbury and she was a chapter into The Martian Chronicles.

Time slipped away and halfway through, she felt the jolt of the train slowing. Tucking her book away, she saw students had already begun to shift towards the exits, eager to get a look at Hogwarts. She pushed through, stepping out onto the platform at Hogsmeade Station and looking up at the blue tips of her new school.

Wizards and witches streamed towards the lines of horseless carriages, lined up and waiting. Shyness crept throughout her as she watched sets of friends settle in and ride off towards their familiar. To her right she spotted three boys, with dark shags of hair and wearing the school's robes.

One was slightly taller, his wrinkled clothes hung on his lanky frame, his face taut with dark circles under his eyes. His two companions were closer in height; one wore glasses and tore his fingers through his locks to give them a tousled look. The others hair was longer, wavier, with the tips touching his shoulders. Immersed in a conversation, the wizard with glasses gave the one with the wavy hair a slight shove which ended with him theatrically throwing himself in Jane's path. She stopped abruptly and their eyes locked momentarily. 'Hello,' he said finally, his tone uncomfortably flirtatious.

She gave a small smile, 'Hello there.'

His grin widened, 'Love your accent,' he had straightened himself fully, pressing closer. 'Want a ride with me and my mates?'

'Shove off, Sirius, can't you see you're bothering the poor girl?' The one with glasses called out. 'Peter's got a carriage waiting for us anyhow.'

'Not till I get a name!' He yelled back, his eyes never leaving her.

Her face went scarlet, 'My name is Jane Harper.'

'Sirius Black,' he jogged back towards his friends, who were standing in wait. 'See you in the Great Hall, Jane Harper.'

They crowded onto one and it took off towards the school, leaving Jane, once again, alone and somewhat unsure of what to do till she was greeted again by a girl with a mane of thick, red hair. 'You look a little confused, care for a hand?' Her face was rounded with the lightest freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose and emerald colored eyes that glinted in the moon's growing light. 'I'm Lily. I do not believe I have seen you before…?'

Jane shook her head, 'No, this is my first year here. My name is Jane.'

'Oo, an American! How charming! Oy, Alice!' She turned to see another young witch flit over, with chin length brown curls and rosy, round cheeks. 'Got us a carriage?'

'This way, dearies!' The three girls climbed up and once seated, the carriage jolted forward and headed towards the castle. Alice introduced herself and gave the same compliments over her accent, the irony tickling Jane. They asked for her schedule, comparing the two optional subjects, all three taking Care of Magical Creatures and Lily and Jane both in Muggle Studies. Jane pulled out her novel which the girls oohed over when a smooth stoned hit her lightly in the breastplate and landed in the open book.

'That wasn't meant for you, American!' A voice from the carriage in front called out.

Lily redden as she snatched it up. 'Potter, you're an arse!' She said and chucked it back towards them.

There was a chortle of laughter and another voice called out, 'Save you a seat, Miss Harper. I'm cheering for you to join Gryffindor.'

Lily turned around, 'He is just impossible. The most arrogant man I have ever had the misfortune to deal with.'

'He's just being sweet on you,' said Alice.

'What about his friend?' Jane asked.

'Sirius? He's just a longer haired version of Potter,' Lily and Alice giggled. 'Speaking of sweethearts, Frank still on your robe tails?'

Alice's cheeks grew rosier but before there was an answer, they had reached Hogwarts. They dismounted; a professor stepped forward and intercepted Jane. 'Miss Harper?' She asked. Jane nodded. 'Yes, you were supposed to ride over with a prefect but nevermind, we have found you now. I'm Professor Letta. I have your uniform here, just put on your robe and worry about changing out of your civilian clothes later. Since you do have not been designated to a house, you need to go with the first years,' Jane groaned inwardly; the professor did not notice, 'so off with you now, follow the little ones right over there.'

Lily and Alice waved and headed off while Jane went to join the first years, throwing the robe around her shoulders, her legs promptly tangling in it causing her to pitch forward. She slammed into someone and they both toppled backwards. 'Oh, piss, I am so sorry,' she sputtered, pushing herself up and off.

The wizard sat up and faced her; his hair was pitch black and fell pass is shoulders; his face long and sallow with a nose that jutted out, the bridge flat as if it had been broken before. His hazel eyes stared emptily before they darkened and narrowed.

Before she could muster another series of apologies, Sirius appeared seemingly out of nowhere and swept Jane back to her feet. 'Careful where you walk, Snivellus. You are always an obstacle.'

He scowled and stood upright, about to retort when a shrill voice called out, 'Snape, Snape. Severus Snape.' Jane looked behind to see a trio consisting of two blondes, one witch and one wizard, and a black haired girl who hissed the s in the dark haired boy's name. 'Why do you socialize with the scum of the Black name?' She flounced over and laced her arm into his, dragging him back towards the blondes. 'Leave Sirius with his Mudblood girlfriend!'

The four climbed the stairs and disappeared behind the Hall's doors, leaving Sirius and Jane and the petrified first years alone. She turned to face him and, this time, studied his eyes more intently; his pupil was set in azure, with streaks of green. They stared unblinking until her cheeks began to burn; he then said, 'Jane, has anyone told you that you have the loveliest set of eyes?'

'Sirius!' The spell broke and they turned to see Professor Letta walking swiftly over. 'Get into the Hall now! The Sorting Hat is nearly finished and then the first years, mind you Miss Harper, are about to go in!'

He too slipped behind the doors and moments later, Professor Letta ushered the group of them into the Great Hall. There were four long tables decorated with gilded utensils and ornate plates, filled with second through seventh year students that lead up to one horizontal table filled with the school's staff. They walked down the middle; Jane's eyes, along with the rest of the eleven year olds, were wide and taking in the high ceiling with the day's weather sprawled across and floating, lit candles. Flags of the four houses hung respectively over their assigned table. She spotted the boy called Potter and Sirius, who gave a quick wink, grouped together with two others; she also spotted Lily and Alice who were deep into conversation, unaware of the entering students.

They milled around the front as Professor Letta called up each witch and wizard to put on the Sorting Hat and appointed them to their tables. Thankful to have been given her mother's maiden name instead of taking on her father's, Zellwood, she was called up soon enough. It flopped on the sides and she heard it mutter under his breathe. 'Intelligent. Stubborn. Powerful, mmm. Maybe not so much stubborn as strong-willed then?' He chuckled. 'I sense, I sense...oh, never mind then, Gryffindor!' He rang out and her new table broke into cheers. She slipped next to Lily, her eyes briefly landed on Sirius, who broke into a smile. She returned and continued to scan the room, her eyes stopping on the boy she ran into earlier and was surprised to see he was staring back.


End file.
